The Temptations - Search & Destroy, etc.

Flawless music!

search: "Anthology"...if you wanna dig deeper, "Wish It Would Rain", "Temptin' Temptations" and "With A Lot Of Soul".

Does exactly what you want from a compilation, has twenty great songs (well 18 actually, 'power' and 'law of the land' are a bit rub) starting with my girl era smokey stuff and ending with the pseudo-Sly cheapo-psychedelia Tempts stuff, which is, despite what Daniel says, absolutley fantastic.

and it contains 'I'm gonna make you love me' which is the single greatest piece of music ever recorded.

btw, dows anyone know what they had against sly stone?

'superstar' is clearly a personal attack on him which seems a bit rich considering they are the ones who're nicking every single one of his ideas wholesale at this point.

did he just object to them taking him as, uh, inspiration, or was there something else behind it?

(really, just a 60s compilation would do, as most of their 68-onwards output has been inferior)

Destroy: "Wings of Love" (side 2). Horrible horrible horrible 70s ballads.

Eddie and Billy are apparently on one other Temps album, but I've never heard it and the title escapes me.

But I've never been the world's biggest Temps fan. Recently I was driving around Chicago on a day off, the sun was shining bright, it was 80 degrees out, I was blasting a "dusties" station (this is the Af-Am equivalent of an oldies station) where two DJs had set up a Tempts vs. Four Tops battle of the bands. The Temps were destroying the 4Ts among listeners who were calling in. They were playing some pretty obscure singles--at least, the ones that were played in CHicago clubs in the '60s but not necessarily the ones played on oldies formats today. I have to admit the Temps' catalogue is deeper but the best of the 4Ts kills the best of the Temps any day.

He was not a nice man, but I've yet to hear a bad DR song. Having said that, the best Tempts song might well be 'Just my Imagination'.

So, TS: Ruffin vs Eddie Kendricks vs Dennis Edwards?

dunno if motown put out a stronger banger than 'get ready' tbh.

(really, just a 60s compilation would do, as most of their 68-onwards output has been inferior)

oh geirpaws

Solid Rock is such a killer album... 'Take A Look Around', the killer drum breakdowns on 'Ain't No Sunshine', 'Superstar', 'What It Is', all thirteen chilling minutes of 'Stop The War Now'...

Pretty much all of their early 70s albums rule.

1971 Sky's The Limit
1972 All Directions
1973 1990
1973 Masterpiece
1970 Psychedelic Shack
1969 Cloud Nine
1967 With A Lot O' Soul
1968 Wish It Would Rain
1972 Solid Rock
1969 Puzzle People
1966 Gettin' Ready
1965 The Temptations Sing Smokey
1965 The Temptin' Temptations
1964 Meet The Temptations
1967 In A Mellow Mood

I didn't know these guys recorded "Smiling Faces Sometimes" first until I listened to "Sky's the Limit" yesterday. The wikipedia entry on the song is really interesting. "The Temptations' original uses an arrangement similar to a haunted house film score to represent feelings of fear and timidness." I like the 12-minute version they did – not as much as the punchy single version by the Undisputed Truth. The idea of the Temptations doing a 12-minute horrorscape just won't stop rolling around in my mind.

That sentence also made me think of the Temptations doing one of those "scary sounds of Halloween" type albums, with them saying stuff like, "You've seen the scary rats, my friend, but watch out for...the scary bats..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txeXfUYfezU

RIP Damon Harris

Always loved his lead on this one. Great track:
http://youtu.be/A2waBj0vu90

They sure don't build those Temptations to last, eh? :(

I think it's safe to say all the Norman Whitfield/Barret Strong albums are totally good and worthwhile.

RIP Richard Street

http://youtu.be/U2gL4De5Wnc

Dennis Edwards who joined the group in 1968, is still at it. The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards, is gonna be at the Lincoln Theatre in W. D.C. Sunday. Pricey ticket but I might go

I did go. Dennis' voice is still husky and strong. Wish he and his Temptations Revue (including late Temp Paul Williams' son) had sung with a band rather than over tracks though.

Lucky you!

My fave group of all-time. Got into them through the Edwards-era (though I skew more toward Ruffin these days)... incredible stuff.

That's kinda ridiculous re: backing tracks though, eh?
Any surprises in the set-list? Does he do "Don't Look Any Further"?

This was their 2nd or 3rd appearance in the area in a year anda half. It's like he needs money, or something. Alas, no "Don't Look Any Further." They stuck largely to the Temps catalogue with Dennis singing the 1968 and later songs and the others doing the earlier hits. They also did "Rainy Night in Georgia(feels like its raining all over the world". The Delfonics, Dynamic Superiors, and Junior Walker's Allstars opened the show. Packed house(around 1,200 or so).

Other than the backing tapes, sounds like a fine night out.
Thanks for the info!

RIP Dennis Edwards

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/temptations-lead-singer-dennis-edwards-193940628.html

You're all insane. Early 70's "Cloud 9" era pseudo-Sly cheapo-psychedelia Tempts = dud dud dud.

This may be one of the rongest posts in ILM history

god yeah wtf

how do you even develop that opinion

crazy.

Did David Ruffin really come out of the crowd and steal the mic the first time Dennis Edwards played with the Temptations (replacing Ruffin), as depicted in that biopic?

wiki:

Ruffin had tipped Edwards off that he was being drafted as his replacement, which eased Edwards' conscience in replacing him.[2][6][7] The Temptations officially introduced Edwards on July 9, 1968 on stage in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. However, Ruffin, who was attempting to make his way back into the group, crashed the stage during Edwards' lead vocal on "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" to significant applause.[6] He continued similar stunts for about a month until, according to Edwards, the group decided to lay-off Edwards - with the promise of a solo deal from Motown - and rehire Ruffin.[6] When Ruffin failed to show for his return engagement in Gaithersburg, Maryland the next night, Edwards was permanently kept on and the Temptations refused to entertain rehiring Ruffin any further.[6]

Wow, I love Ruffin's voice, but what a lousy dude he was!

really into the their album 1990 right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCPPEwtnQc

Wow, I love Ruffin's voice, but what a lousy dude he was!

"My Girl" just crossed 1 Billion streams on Spotify.